 Shawn Michael Price had previous brushes with law.
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EDMONTON -- On the day after a suspected robber was shot dead by a rookie cop downtown, details of the man's turbulent past continued to emerge, with police now probing whether he tried to turn himself in shortly before his death.
Shawn Michael Price, 36, confronted police with a knife in July 2007 after a department store robbery. He ended up cutting his own wrists and neck before he was arrested and charged with theft, two counts of resisting arrest and assault with a weapon.
To some, like Price's cousin Amanda Davies, that piece of Price's history is proof that he was not a violent man.
"He wouldn't hurt the cops. He cut himself," she said yesterday.
Others, like residents in the area where Price was killed, are defending the actions of police.
"They got a guy off the street that shouldn't be on the street," said area resident Don, standing a few feet from the bloodstained grass on the corner of 102 Street and 107 Avenue where Price was shot in the hip and chest.
ONE YEAR ON JOB
An officer with about one year of service opened fire on Price as he struggled with her partner who was attempting to arrest him for a personal robbery.
"They were trying to do their job," added Don, who did not want his last name used for fear of reprisals. He said having a man shot to death in his part of town is "not surprising at all."
Cops were called to the area just before 2 a.m. Sunday, after a man reported being robbed. When they tried to arrest Price, he allegedly made a move for the male officer's gun, prompting the female officer to shoot Price twice.
Despite Price's past, Edmonton Police Association director Tony Simioni said it is unlikely the responding officers knew much about the man when they approached him.
"I would be very surprised if they had any knowledge of his background before they dealt with him," he said.
"Both officers, and particularly the female officer, responded in a manner that she thought was appropriate, and time will tell whether that's accurate or not," Simioni added.
Acting police chief Norm Lipinski said he has confidence the right decisions were made.
"We stand behind the training that we give our people and I certainly (stand) behind the type of people we hire. They go through a very selective screening process. They're good people. They're selected to make decisions under extremely stressful situations," he said, adding neither officer was equipped with a Taser, and even if they had one, it may have been inappropriate to deploy.
Investigators, he added, are also looking into the possibility that Price may have tried to turn himself in to police on a Canada-wide warrant and was turned away shortly before his death.
Price, a father of two young girls, was born and raised in Edmonton and has "been in jail since he was a kid," his cousin said.
But, despite his rough past, he was trying to turn his life around and provide for his partner and two-year-old daughter in an honest way since he got out of jail in February, she added.
"He was working every day. He was staying out of trouble, then all of a sudden he just disappeared seven weeks ago," she said, adding his disappearance was likely due to a longtime drug addiction.
Regardless of the circumstances that ended with the deadly confrontation, Davies criticized the way police dealt with her cousin.
"Once they took out his hip, (it was) not necessary to shoot him again," she said.
"He was ready to start a whole new life," Davies added. "He didn't deserve to be shot down like a dog."
Meanwhile, a small makeshift memorial - that included personal letters, flowers, candles and what appeared to be ladies' stockings - continued to grow where Price fell after being shot.
Just before noon yesterday, Price's younger brother placed a letter on the ground and knelt down on the grass, unable to fight back tears.
LIFE TAKEN
"Life has been taken from your daughter, from your brothers, from your sisters, from your mother," Jason Weber's letter read. "Every day you are gone is another day my love will grow."
In a short interview with a small group of reporters, Weber said he wants Price to be remembered "for a loving brother that he was. He was a great family man."
When asked how the family is coping, Weber simply said, "How do you think we're coping? The guy's dead. Just leave me alone," before returning to his car and leaving.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team continues its investigation into the matter.
Once its investigation is concluded - which may take months, Lipinski said - the EPS will look at what, if any, changes need to be made to the local police force's training, equipment and policies.
TAMAS.VIRAG@SUNMEDIA.CA
